Glass construction unit



F. L. KEPPLER.

GLASS CONSTRUCTION UNIT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 12 1917- Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

UNITED gST.1 .TES PATENT OFFICE, *l

f FREDERICK L. xErrLEn, 'or NEwYoRK, N. Y.

Grass yCorrsfrnue'rroN UNIT.

`To all whom it may/uconcem: Beit known that I, FREDERICK L. Knrrnnn,

a' ycitizen of the United States, residing at N ew York, in the countyofNew. York and State of New York, have invented a certain new'anduseful Improvementin Glass Construction Units, of whichr ther followingis a specification. y

My invention relates vto'improvements in structural glass units, and hasfor one object to 'provide a structural unit possessing great strengthkand vcapable of complete'and pery feet annealing;A Another object istoiproduce a glass structure unit` which can be made of .ordinarytransparent glass which will permit light to passr throughr it butlwhich cannotvbe seen through. Other objects will appear in thespecification from time to time. v y y jl n My invention is illustratedmore orrless diagrammatically in the` following "draw-rV iny wherein ligure 1 is a form of unit ywhichmay be used either as a partition yor asa paving Fig. 2'i`s a form particularly adapted for l use in pavements,skylights and the like;

Fig. 3 is a form particularly" adapted forr partition walls;

Fig. 4 is a form partition walls. Like arts are indicated by likecharac'- ters in al the figures;

`I haveshown fourfdifferent forms'of my invention; They all embodythesamegeneral characteristics. They all can be used particularlyadapted for interchangeably but for certain specific` purposes wherelarge numbersfare used'it is worth while to work out special forms, andit is those special forms which I have here illustrated for the purpose'of ,making the Wholernatter a littlemore clear and 'more satisfactory toall. concerned. y

The kforms of Figskl, 2l andB in particular are rather closely'similarand a description i of one will suffice for 'all three.

Each of these glass unitsvmay lbe described vas a substantially squareblock with a de f if the block was built into a skylight. It

Vwould be kthe bearing surface if the block was built into av Hoor orpavement. The

block is bounded on all four sides adjacent the Hat surface A byaninwardly and then outwardly curved surface A1 corrugated as at A2 inorder that structural or plastic materials into which the block is builtmay have a better hold. These corrugated sur-y faces A1 form the outerboundaries offiaring walls A3 which surround-four sides of a depressionA* which' depression is bounded at its bottom by what may be called thebody of the block. These walls A3 terminate in enlarged or thickenedflange like'portions A5 which portions are bounded on the sides opposedto the smooth surface A by inclined surfaces A6. These surfaces may beinclined inwardly towardthe center, or outwardly,` or some may beinclined inwardly and someV outwardly. f l* Attention yis called tothefactthat a very large part of the-mass of glass of which'the block ismade is concentrated. in these flanges A5 and there is a tendencytowardreducing the mass of glassV at the'bottom of the de pression. Thepurpose of this is to promotev uniform annealing and solidifying of theglass after it has been taken from the mold. It.' will be understoodthat the central portion of the block at the bottom of the depres sionisprotected by the walls surrounding the depression and by the body ofglass from air currents, and thus there is a tend# ency for this part ofthe glass to stay' molten longer than the remainder. and this is insharp contrast with the tendency of the part A5 of the glass unit toharden rapidly be- 'specieauon of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 2,1921.` y Appncationfmd November 12, 1917. serial No. 201,683.

cause that is is exposed on all three sides. f

In order to equalize this situation I mass a comparatively largequantity of glass into theflanges A5., The result is that hardening .issubstantially simultaneous throughout the yrapidly than the body of theunit becausey the air would strike them first, and in order to preventthis I have made the side walls thicker particularly at the upper edgesand have provided them with enlarged portions whereby there will be asufficient' mass of material to slow down the annealing process.

The particularproportions depend of course fil) upon the size and shapeot the block`y the character ol the glass, and the conditions underwhich it is manutaetured.

I have arranged my unit so that when it is built up into a wall orpartition it will not interfere with the transmission ot light but willnot be tansparent. I get this result by inclining very slightly thesurface ot one side with respect to the surface on the other. Thesurfaces are lett perfectly smooth and unobstructed. The glass caneasily be cleaned. but ystill this slight change in inclination assistedby the curved contour of the boundary walls ot the glass bloei; issutlicient to make it impossible to see through. In other words, it isonly neef sary to arrange the parts so that light rays entering` theglass can not be dneetl)v reflected through it as through a prism.because in glass they are interrupted by other surfaces which break upthe rays.

In the modiied term shown in Fig'. glass unit generally similar to thefor.. s ot Figs. I, 2 and 3? has a central tlat bo y por tion Bsurrounded on all tour sides by thick heavy downwardly and outwardly'flaring` walls B1 terminating in orerhanging .flanges Bi. These angesare bounded by inclined surfaces 33 extending; outwardly and inclinedhaelt toward the body The body B itselt is provided with inclined suria"B* on the same side as the tlangi'es D1 i the A.) the Hannes Ill arebounded by inclined s faces Pf. rFliese surfaces of course joined byshaped angles but cui" oil or arranged so that they merge into oneother.

The suriiaees B3 terminate in a surrounding` the outer perimeter oi il cunit and are adapted to hide the comen" l between adjacent units whenthey into a wall or other structure.

This block is bounded aboutA i zby surtaces C, C perpendieuA B. yIheseIsurhtces merge intY iaces 'El on the i'iai'igres lll. are corrugated asindicated. and the .r may be built into a structure by bringingthemtogether and tilliiip` he spaces between adjacent blocks with mortar.llowever, glass is impervious to moisture and has no suction su called,and the mortar therefore dries or sets very slowly and it becomesnecessary to provide supports tor the units to hold them in positionwhile the mortar or cement is setting.

In order to maire these supports unneeesf sary, I surround the glassunit betere it leaves the 'factory with a cushion ot cement. rllhiscushion is put on at the factory where the units are made and beforethey are shipped for use. It surrounds the peripheral walls of the unitleavingy uncoferedthat portion ot the unit which comes most closely incontact with adjacent units with which it is set up.

This cushion as it is put on the unit. is lett with a sligzjhtdepression D as indicated, so that when the separate units are put in a.structure there is room for the reiutorcing)` and room "for a smallamount ot `ement to tie an together and tie the reintorcing*material inplace. It is however a relatively' small body oit' cement and so theporous cement cushion on the unit betere it is assembled7 is enabled toabsorb such moisture as is necessary to insure the .rapid setting; `ol!the structure and obviate the nlcessity of the supporting trame.

I claim I. .-'Yis a new article ot nmnuiiacture a glass tile comprisinga relatively thin port-ion.

downwardly dependin;l edges having corrugated outer risurlaces, a bandot cement material let into said corrugations, the outer surface et saidband being channeled.

is anew article ot manutaeture a tile comprising` a relatively thintia-t portionj l inwardly depending` edges a glass tbinge projecting'trom said edges about their outer periphery, a cement band permanentlysecured to said edges about their outer periphery, and substantiallyHush with the glass iiange. said cement baud being channeled about itsouter sur ce.

il. Jrs a new article ot manufacture, a glass tile, the periphery ot'said tile being channeled, a band ot cement material let into saidchannel, 'the outer surface ot said band being channeled.

ln testimony whereof7 I alliX my signature in the presence ot twowitnesses this 8th day of November7 1917.

F lIQDEIlICK L. KEPPLEI.

lVitnesses Mannion KEANE, MARY Mnaonnn.

all)

